Last year, StackOverflow named JavaScript one of the best programming languages to learn in 2017. Indeed, used by 90.5 percent of developers for both front- and back-end, it’s officially the most popular technology for web development.

Due to the large, ever-growing community in the JavaScript ecosystem, dozens of new frameworks and libraries are emerging every year. While the website javascripting.com has cataloged 73 pages of existing tools, it’s hard to keep track of the new ones.

JS Frameworks are used as a foundation for a broad range of applications, depending on the problem for which the certain framework was created. Some frameworks have similar functions, but each comes with a different implementation, so you’ll have to make a choice.

“When choosing which technology to base a project on, technical considerations are a big part of it but not all,” opined Jason Swett, a software developer and author of Angular for Rails Developers. “Other questions should include: How popular and widely supported is this technology now, and how popular is it likely to be in the future? How easy will it be to find developers who use this technology?”

But deciding on the most popular one is not always the best solution. You also need to define what kind of an application you’re going to build; how capable your team is; and – if they lack expertise – how long it will take them to learn a new technology.

Even if you don’t find a framework that applies to all your criteria, there are always some tools that are just more versatile. Today we’re comparing four frameworks and each of them has, besides pros and cons, something unique to offer. Besides, each of the reviewed frameworks can be used as a front-end element in full stack JavaScript development services, an approach that allows you to build applications from A to Z using just one technology stack.

What is AngularJS? AngularJS became the reigning monarch of techdom right after its first release. Back in 2009, the team of developers had been struggling to finish the Google Feedback app. A team member, Misko Hevery, offered to reimplement the entire project in just two weeks using a framework he’d created as a hobby. After three weeks, he was back with code that shrunk from 17,000 lines to 1,500. Short, more precise, faster written code made the technology stand out. And thanks to Google’s support, it became the framework we know today.

AngularJS is often called a Model-View-Whatever framework in which you can use whatever architecture pattern you prefer–either Model-View-Controller (MVC) or Model-View-ViewModel (MVVM). These patterns, along with Model-View-Presenter (MVP), are used to handle an application’s logic in a structured way. Model-View-Whatever architecture also solves the problem of developing Single-Page Applications by extending the functionality of HTML with directives.

The update to Angular 2 introduced a completely rewritten framework, which is mobile oriented and component based. Due to the major differences, it was met with both excitement and dismissal: Updating the technology meant investing time in learning a new one. That’s why today we’re not discussing Angular 2 or Angular 4, released this March, since they don’t yet obtain the same amount of community recognition and adoption rates, thus making the comparison to other frameworks unfair.

What are the main advantages of AngularJS?

Two-Way Data bindingIn AngularJS, the Model and the View are synchronized, which means that when data in the Model changes, the View automatically reflects this change. And, conversely, when the View changes, data in the Model gets updated as well. To implement this without data binding, you would need to spend time writing code that constantly syncs the View and the Model.

Directives
This feature allows developers to attach special behaviors to the Document Object Model (DOM) and consequently extend HTML. In addition to the directives that come with AngularJS, you can create your own, allowing for a great deal of flexibility and performance improvements in crafting behaviors for the UI.

Global community support
This is the factor where Angular outnumbers other JavaScript frameworks. Developers and designers constantly collaborate and contribute to the community, increasing the framework’s credibility and reliability. Tons of tutorials on YouTube, forum threads, and replies on StackOverflow save your time when finding a solution to your programming challenge.

Dependency Injection
This feature of AngularJS changes the way components get hold of dependencies – external objects that you rely on when building your solution. Usually, engineers must manually manage dependencies in code, but with Angular framework you can use injectors – service locators responsible for looking up dependencies. Also, quality testing becomes noticeably easier since now you can effortlessly isolate components for unit testing.

Despite the reasons why AngularJS has such a loyal fan base, it’s important to be aware of complications that come with the framework.

Here are Angular’s drawbacks to consider:

It can be slow
Due to its size (~50KB compressed and minified), when it comes to larger and more complex apps, AngularJS can act sluggish which results in degraded website performance.

A steep learning curveSince AngularJS covers everything from code structure to routing, it takes quite some time to understand, and even after that, learning doesn’t stop. At the beginning, you’ll have to dedicate time to comprehending the technology that has too many ways to do one thing. That’s why many recommend to dive deeper into the source code. However, thanks to numerous tutorials and a responsive community, you won’t get stuck halfway.

When should you use AngularJS?

Chris Bitting, Marketing Technology Manager & Developer at Cozen O’Connor, had this to say on using the framework: “I’ve come to rely on AngularJS to be fast and easy to implement and easy to manage moving forward. Projects, that it’s worked great for, have been taking existing solutions that use an older technology (like server side) and enabling them to be more responsive using client side (JS). “

With such features as data binding and dependency injection that make building dynamic pages easier, the main purpose of the framework is certainly Single-Page Applications. By allowing developers to decompose UI into components, AngularJS simplifies navigation and creates an enjoyable web experience.

Knockout.js: a minimalist library for dynamic UI

The basic thing to know when comparing Knockout vs Angular is that the former works under the Model-View-ViewModel (MVVM) design paradigm which makes it a little different from AngularJS. On the other hand, its Two-Way Data binding mechanism is common to Angular’s one. Let’s see what other features make Knockout.js similar to and different from other frameworks.

The reasons to use Knockout.js:

MVVM architecture pattern
By splitting a potentially sophisticated UI into three parts (Model, View and ViewModel), Knockout.js allows developers to have models that are perfectly in sync with DOM elements. With relatively little coding, you save time and avoid worrying about losing data that has been changed or deleted by user interaction. You can see how this architecture works in a diagram below.

Support of all mainstream browsersConsidering everything it does, Knockout’s browser support is very impressive: Firefox, Safari, Google Chrome, Opera, and even Internet Explorer 6. While most of the frameworks only support IE9+, you can be sure that with Knockout.js your applications will work without bugs even on ancient browsers.

Dependency trackingThanks to its core function called observables, Knockout.js detects dependencies and automatically updates the right parts of UI. It simplifies the process of organizing UI dependencies and saves time that you would usually spend on manual tracking.

Built-in templatingWith its native templating mechanism, Knockout.js allows you to capture HTML markup existing in the element and use it as template for other items. Therefore, you can quickly create a complicated UI.

Still, there’s one significant drawback that makes developers look for better options: It lacks updates. Knockout.js is growing at a much slower pace than competitors and it desperately needs to be acquired by a caring team who will make sure the library stays up to date.

When should you use Knockout.js?

Knockout.js was used to build such popular websites as Ancestry.com, Vogue, and Microsoft Azure portal. Thanks to its MVVM model, it’s perfect for creating rich and responsive user interfaces with a clean, underlying data model. If you have an application with a complicated UI that requires support for a broad range of browsers, Knockout.js is the way to go.

Vue.js: a modern front-runner that powers both new and existing applications

Vue.js is a new library that automatically creates interactive user interfaces. It supports data binding, modular components, and composition. Many say that it has taken the best from ReactJS (which we’ve covered in a dedicated article on pros and cons of ReactJS and React Native), AngularJS, and Backbone.js and wrapped it all in a simple, user-friendly package that doesn’t require any plug-ins or extensions. In the fairly short period of its existence, Vue.js has gathered a very active community and now the library is establishing itself as a convenient tool for building web interfaces.

You will not find a large number of big companies adopting Vue.js in the US, but its popularity in China is imposing. Such Chinese giants as Alibaba, Baidu, and Xiaomi have been successfully using Vue.js.

What features induce developers to have a hand in Vue.js?

It’s extremely approachableOne of the most important things about Vue.js is its small API surface area. This means that it’s easy to learn and those unfamiliar with the framework can start actively using it in just a couple of days. And when you get well acquainted with Vue.js, you won’t have to waste time constantly looking things up in the guide.

Simple integrationUnlike many other JavaScript frameworks, Vue.js is equally useful both for building entire single-page applications and for rendering components into existing apps.“The biggest pro for Vue.js is the component file structure and layout. Having the ability to contain a component’s structure, logic, and style all in one file makes it very simple to create flexible components which can be reused across many projects. Vue.js is also great for adding lots of small reactive components to an existing template.” says Jakub Srsen, Head of Product development at Talkative.

Small size
Vue.js 2.0 weighs only 18KB minified + gzipped. All tools in the Vue.js ecosystem are also small and fast. With Vue.js, you can even separate the template-to-virtual-DOM compiler and runtime. This means that if you precompile your templates, the base Vue.js package sent to the browser can weigh as little as 17KB. Thus, Vue.js outperforms such bulky frameworks as ReactJS, AngularJS, and Ember.js.

Comprehensive documentation
Vue.js can also take pride in very thorough and well-written documentation. All you need to start is to know plain JavaScript and HTML, and you’ll be able to write your first application halfway through the guide.

Vue.js only falls short in its maturity. Despite a growing community, there’s just not enough components for a new version of the framework and beginners may find it hard to differentiate one from the other. Fortunately, since Vue.js doesn’t require any additional libraries, this issue doesn’t negate its advantages.

How to know that you need Vue.js?

GitLab has recently announced that they’ve been using Vue.js framework for their open-source software. Simplicity, straightforwardness, and self-sufficiency – it doesn’t need external libraries – were among the reasons that motivated GitLab to make this choice.

Vue.js is one of the most flexible frameworks that can be both integrated with other libraries and used for large, existing projects.

Backbone.js: a flexible framework for a structured code

Backbone.js comes in at just 7.6KB when minified and compressed for production. It has only one dependency – Underscore.js. Its highly versatile and minimalistic MVC pattern powers a lot of sites you may be familiar with: Twitter, Hulu, Pinterest, Foursquare, and Pandora Radio.

“Developers pick BackBone due to their ability to use anything as the controller, as BackBoneJS’ controller is optional,” says Shawn Moore, CTO at Solodev, a web experience platform. “Known for its comprehensive technical documentation and clean code organization broken down into meaningful JavaScripts, BackBone makes collaborative development easier. It also negates the need to save data in the DOM by storing it in the model instead.”

What are the main benefits of Backbone.js?

Versatility
Unlike other frameworks, Backbone.js puts you in charge of choosing the tools that work best on a given project. It doesn’t come with its own templating engine (aside from the basic one included in Underscore.js). Having that choice allows developers to use the tools they’re already familiar with and speed up the engineering process.

Community
With 26 thousand stars on GitHub, 29,100 YouTube results, and about 18,000 questions on StackOverflow, the Backbone.js community and ecosystem are huge. You can also always find great solutions in documentation, which will spare you hours of work trying to find a solution.

Syncing with back-end
The models in Backbone.js can be easily tied to a back-end. The framework provides excellent support for RESTful APIs so that models can be mapped to RESTful endpoints. Since we currently have not only desktop browsers, but also mobile devices, it’s pretty handy to have all data exposed through an API. You can build true apps for desktop and mobile browsers that go well beyond the features of simple websites.

Website speed
Just like any framework with MVC architecture, Backbone.js reduces the load on a server so that the website depends on it only for getting JSON data and not for the logic of how to display it. This results in significant performance efficiency, even as the page grows.

However, depending on the experience level, Backbone.js can be a developer’s blessing or challenge. “Tools like Backbone can also be problematic when your team skews junior because Backbone doesn’t provide much structure. Angular makes it a little harder – although certainly not impossible! – to pile on a bunch of spaghetti code,” says Jason Swett. When building a Backbone.js application, you will certainly need a lot of libraries and add-ons, and while many enjoy extensibility, novices may find working with the framework exhausting.

What are the Backbone.js use cases?

Get your hands on Backbone.js if: 1) you’re an experienced developer and 2) you’re building Single-Page Applications and widgets. If you’re interested in using it beyond that scope, be sure to investigate options for server-side rendering and do research on additional libraries and plugins you may need to build your application.

Choosing the Best Framework for the Job

Each framework is created for a purpose: either to bring in something new that the community needs or to solve a problem that hasn’t been addressed before. Still, for many software product development projects, it’s not the tools you choose that do the job, but the people who work with those tools. They use their knowledge and the ability to make decisions to use these technologies to their full potential.

This is why the framework you decide to invest in will probably come down to your or your team’s personal experience and preference. Just remember that by ignoring emerging technologies that get rid of mundane tasks, you risk losing out to the competition and being outdone.

Developers and business leaders always have to compromise. Just make sure that the benefits of your choice outpower the drawbacks. This simple diagram is a good way to understand our research.

Comments

Yes, You’re right at the bottom line that each of framework has a purpose. Even every framework has their own functionalities, benefits. I’m mostly using the Angularjs for the front end and single page application. So I’ll go with AngularJS Framework.
Thanks!